I had never entered anything into this revered exhibition, neither as a student nor as a professional. Thinking back to when I was a student, entering work into exhibitions wasn't something that I could afford and it wasn't something that I was really interested in either. My mind was on other things, my interests were elsewhere. So why, 20 years later had I decided to enter? I decided to enter a few pieces because of my students.

Every year I encourage my students to enter work into the Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Competition. Prior to the spring semester starting up in January, I realized that although I was asking them to enter work, I had never entered work myself. Somehow, that just didn't feel right. The more I thought about it, the more determined I became to enter something. I ended up entering two pieces and to my surprise and delight, the above piece was selected for inclusion into the show Illustrators 56.

Illustrators 56 is on display at The Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators in New York, NY. Part One of the exhibit was on display from January 7 to February 1, 2014 and Part Two of the exhibit will be on display from February 5 to March 1, 2014. All of the work from the show will also be published in a hard bound book to be released in January 2015.

I am honored to be a part of this show and publication and to have my work exhibited amongst such wonderful, amazing talent. Big thanks to all the jurors and to the Society for this opportunity.

I am also really pleased to announce that 9 of my students - both past and present - got work into the Student Scholarship Competition! Way to go!!